Ecotour Africa has come to fill a void in the tourism landscape in Ghana and Africa as a whole. The popular tourism model which most of us have come to accept as the norm is that we just look up pictures of some nice looking hotels, with great continental dishes, overlooking the beach with a sunset, and some stunningly beautiful ladies in bikinis. This has come to register into our psyche as the ideal holiday experience. Well, for us…we don’t think there is anything wrong with this model, but maybe the essence of crossing many oceans may really not have been fulfilled with this type of experience.
So, our business proposition is a simple one. What if you come on a holiday tour, have an opportunity to experience wildlife in its natural environment, feel the culture of the people by staying right in a small town with them, see how they live, eat what they eat, ride with them on their motorbikes or motorbiking, explore parts of the settlement on foot, get through other parts with a bicycle, do what they do, walk on the streets freely, enjoy lunch with a host family, dance to their music, get involved in a small community development project…widen your world by learning from them and expand their world by sharing what you know with them. What if this tour is moderately priced in such a way that it doesn’t bleed your pocket? What if we make a moderate profit margin and we re-invest a large percentage of this profit into building social projects that help develop these communities?
At Ecotour Africa, we are not here to curse the darkness, instead, we are here to turn on the light, we are not just another business, we are a people’s business, a business, and a charity at the same time…or better still, let’s say we are a social enterprise. Our business model says, you are not just the guest…and we are not just the company, and then the people are not just locals who should wait on the Government to fix them! We think you are our partner, we are your partner, the local community is our partner, the government is our partner…and all of us are stakeholders in this project cos we all have something to give each other.
Even though we are clearly in support of responsible travel, it is also important we state that we are not an organization set up because we think there is something wrong with commercial/mass tourism. We think they have their place, and we also do think we have our place. We are not a competition to the existing structures in any way. We are in our place, and we stand in the place of unity, and in this place…all that we see is balance. We surely won’t appeal to everyone, and they also may not appeal to everyone. We are out here for the people who have been going in that direction because we were not there. We are right here now; here to draw our people close…here to do business unusual, a business that is driven by our heart!
Unlike conventional businesses where the transaction usually end as soon as you check out of your lovely hotel. For us, our relationship continues for as long as you want it, we want to keep you posted with the progress we are making with your support. So, in reality…Ecotour has no customer...and we are not looking for customers. We are here connecting with those who understand what we are about. Our tour may not give you fanciful pictures that would get you many “likes” on social media. You may not be able to post pictures of yourself sipping Campari with lemonade, and posting a status message on your wall that says: “I am here living my dreams”. But we guarantee that your trip would touch you in a deep way, it won’t be just another holiday, but an experience that causes a conscious expansion within you.
Lastly, as an organization, we do not measure our success by the size of our building, profit, or by the return on shareholders’ investment…Instead, we measure our success based on our ROI, which is our Return on Impact to all our partners and stakeholders alike- the tourist, the local communities, the republic of Ghana and the African continent as a whole.
We want to say a big thank you for deciding to be a part of this wind of change that is about to sweep across the African continent. We look forward to having you on board.